Stardate: 225904
by Rose9797
Summary: It's the Kelvin Memorial Day and the Federation is in mourning. But it's also another special day which is worthy of celebration. One-shot. No slash. Canon pairings. COMPLETE. A/N: Couldn't think of a better day to upload this.


The misty evenings of January reflected the somber atmosphere of San Francisco. It was a day of grief and mourning for all the people of Earth. It was the day the USS Kelvin had been attacked on the edges of the Neutral Zone. It was the day Captain Robau had offered himself up to the Romulans to spare his crew. It was the day George Kirk had sacrificed himself and evacuated the 800 lives on board, including his new-born son who had been born only seconds before he crashed into the Romulan ship. It was the Kelvin Memorial Day.

It had been declared a public holiday on Earth but other Federation members had not deigned to agree. They had dismissed it as "the Terrans custom of exaggeration" though they had accepted to declare it as a day of mourning. Nearly 100 lives had been taken on that fateful day and it had included a mix of people of various species.

So when the public had a day off to honor the Kelvin crew, the young and rather new crew of the Enterprise found themselves buzzing in anticipation. After their shakedown cruise had lasted nine months, they were granted shore leave that quite incidentally clashed with the New Year on Earth. They had a certain Captain to thank for that. But what came as a surprise was an invitation pinging their comms for a party exclusively for the Enterprise crew on 2259.04.

It was to be a gathering of sorts for the crew to mingle and socialize with their colleagues. What it didn't say was that it was a birthday celebration for the Captain hosted by the Command Crew and himself.

The invitation also had a strict dress code – Street Wear.

And so on the evening of 2259.04, the crew found themselves dressing up and arriving in style to The Make-Out Room, an upbeat nightclub.

It wasn't long before the media caught hold of the party in full swing.

OoOoO

 **"** **The Enterprise crew dances the night away on Memorial Day"**

 _Picture: Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise with crew members at a party hosted for the crew._

 _SAN FRANCISCO: Kelvin Memorial Day passed in silence and remembrance for most of the Federation citizens. But not apparently for the USS Enterprise._

 _The Constitution-class Flagship of the Federation was commissioned on Star date 2258.44 during the Battle of Vulcan. After successfully annihilating the estranged Romulans, the ship was handed over to young cadet James T. Kirk after a promotion to Captain on the field. Though circumstances are still unclear, the USS Enterprise set off on its shakedown cruise after a month in repairs. Twelve successful missions later, the ship headed to Earth for shore leave for rest and relaxation of the crew._

 _And rest they did, with the Command Crew hosting a huge social party for the crew members and also as a celebratory party for Captain Kirk's birthday that falls on Kelvin Memorial Day, the day his father, George Kirk had sacrificed himself and evacuated the 800 lives on board, including his new-born son._

 _While Starfleet mourns the loss of a hero with the memorial, the Enterprise seems to be celebrating the birth of a new one._

 _The party which was for invite-only members didn't give access for journalists. But we were able to pull some photos from the social media accounts of the crew members after their permission._

 _We haven't got anything to say about it other than the fact that it was 'the' party to be._

OoOoO

The loud music had everyone grooving together and others sat around the tables drinks in hand, laughing and talking. Everybody knew everyone and the atmosphere was welcoming and comfortable.

After so much time spent in the confines of that tin can, McCoy found himself unwinding, a martini in hand. He saw Chekov and Sulu dancing with other ensigns and lieutenants, not a care in the world. Scotty was chatting up with a group of female ensigns and he used the term loosely, since there were Caitians, Betazoids, Andorians and even Bajorans in them.

Uhura was taking turns dancing with many officers who loved the opportunity of dancing with her. Spock was off-planet to New Vulcan, his presence having been required by the High Council and he wasn't one to dance much anyway. The male officers talked and laughed with her unhindered by the presence of their first officer. McCoy smirked at the thought. Spock was the only other person to scare the living daylights of the crew other than himself.

The only person yet to arrive was the host of the party. He had commed Jim earlier but he had been caught up on a meeting with Pike at the last minute. He should be here any moment now.

 _Speak of the devil_ , McCoy thought as Jim all but swaggered in, his trademark leather jacket over a plain white T-shirt and dark jeans. The crew members turned on seeing him enter and one by one the claps and whistles sounded till the din became deafening.

Jim smiled and headed up to the front and took a mic in hand. "Thank you all for showing up today. Anything and everything happening tonight is only for tonight. So if you kiss or sleep with a stranger, please make sure it's not any of your superiors or juniors before you do any of those things." The crowd laughed and McCoy found himself smiling. That left a very small window of opportunity for everybody up on the chain of command.

"The night is still young so drink up, dance, enjoy. Turn the music up, Derrick!" Kirk yelled to the lieutenant who was acting as DJ for the night. Everybody shouted "Yeah!" and then a faster song got them all on the dance floor.

Jim hopped off from the stage and waded through the crowd. Many ensigns came up to him offering drinks or birthday wishes or also to get a picture since this was almost a lifetime opportunity of being up close and personal with him. McCoy still couldn't fathom how soon Jim's life had changed; or _his_ for that matter. McCoy was sipping his martini when Lt. Tracey invited him for a dance and he wasn't going to say no to a pretty woman.

OoOoO

Uhura was having the time of her life. Granted, the leather pants were a bit too tight and her heeled boots were killing her but she wouldn't complain. She had relaxed in what felt like forever and had laughed and danced like there was no tomorrow. She laughed at the officers' half-hearted attempts to flirt with her and engaged them. If Spock were here…Oh, how she would love to see him jealous.

She missed him and felt bad that she was enjoying without him when she heard a voice that she could recognize anywhere.

"Hey. Look at you!" Jim exclaimed and she smiled. The Jim Kirk before her was vastly different from the guy she met on a bar four years ago. He had stopped hitting on her after a year in Starfleet, but he had never stopped pestering her for her first name. After he discovered that she and Spock were in a relationship, he had effortlessly gone from teasing to respectful. She liked the commanding officer he had become and had found a confidant in the unlikeliest of persons.

"Happy birthday, Captain" she said warmly.

"We're off-duty, Uhura. And thank you," he said smoothly, "Care for a dance?"

"Of course." The music wasn't exactly slow but the moderate speed didn't bother her as he took hold of her hand. They swayed slowly not uttering a word when he decided to break the silence.

"How was your trip home?"

"It was good. They were so happy I could come home."

Jim hummed and they lapsed into silence again. Then he asked "Got any word from Spock?"

"Yes, he called today. Said it would take a couple more days in New Vulcan."

"Does he need any help? You know I won't be averse to that."

She sighed "Believe me I know. But he said and I quote 'I have all things under control. You need not feel worry about that which is 130,000 light years away'," she said in a perfect imitation of Spock.

"Well, _that's_ the Spock we know and love," Jim said and they both laughed.

Uhura thought of how Spock had had a nightmare a week ago and said quietly "He still feels guilt sometimes, you know." When Jim quirked his eyebrow she added "For not getting to his mother soon enough. Hell, _I_ feel guilty for slowing him down that day. If only I had shut my mouth and let Spock do his job…"

Jim immediately shushed her down "What's done is done. Stop thinking too much about that and live in the present."

Uhura felt like saying, _Easy for you to say_ , but she refrained. He _was_ right. It won't do any of them any good anyway.

"When did you become so wise?" she asked.

"Ever since I learnt not to get up close with an emotionally compromised Vulcan" he said with a straight face and she laughed. She had heard from Spock how Kirk had not done that out of spite and how he had apologized to Spock profusely for intentionally provoking him. Spock, being the high and mighty Vulcan that he was, had forgiven him of course. And if Spock could forgive him, Uhura could too and that had been the start of a beautiful friendship.

Sulu came up to the pair and spoke to Kirk "You don't plan on keeping the Lieutenant from us forever, do you Captain?"

Jim laughed and kissed the back of her hand. "She's all yours, Mr. Sulu," and then worked his way over to the bar.

OoOoO

Halfway through the party at about 0700 hours, Uhura, Scotty and Chekov brought a huge cake inside. It didn't have any candles for Jim to blow, but the crew had sung him the birthday song when he cut the cake.

After cake and more alcohol, dinner was doing the rounds as people stopped dancing to eat from the buffet. After dinner, some of the crew had left for the night and only about a hundred were still left.

The music got louder and the dancing wilder. Jim had almost danced with every one of his crew and had sat down. He was chatting up with a group of lovely nurses when McCoy joined in.

"What are you ladies up to?" McCoy said plopping down on the chair.

Nurse Peterson smiled "Doctor, a pleasure as always."

Jim had taken off his jacket and was wearing only his short-sleeved white shirt. Many wearing jackets had also removed them and had hung them on the arms of their chairs. "Lily here was telling me about the time you threw a fit during one of the lectures when the speaker questioned your methods."

"Talking about me, huh? And what lecture was this again?"

Nurse Mashaa, an Orion popped in "Doctor, have you disrupted so many lectures that you don't recognize this?" and the group laughed.

McCoy growled "I swear your Captain is rubbing off on all of you."

Nurse Hille laughed "No, doctor. I'm afraid it's you who's rubbing off on us."

Nurse Mashaa laughed harder "That sounded dirty on so many levels" and they were all howling with laughter.

McCoy shook his head exasperatedly "Only you Mashaa, only you."

Mashaa winked "I try my best."

"You've got quite a feisty bunch, Bones" Jim said smiling good-naturedly.

McCoy rolled his eyes "God, help me!" and the others broke into fits of laughter again.

OoOoO

The night ended with everyone being in a pleasant alcohol-induced buzz and smiles on their faces.

Jim and the command crew were the last to leave making sure everybody left unharmed by the mob of media personnel outside. He hadn't expected that to happen.

The real problem was Jim leaving now, since the media was definitely not letting him sleep without posing for a picture. Jim was in no mood to deal with that.

Sulu saved them all by calling for two Starfleet-issue hovercabs for them. Sulu and Chekov got into one while Scotty, Bones, Uhura and Jim decided to take another to The Commander's Court, the building of apartments for Lt. Commanders, Commanders and Captains. Uhura was going over to Spock's for the night. She missed him a little too much to sleep alone in her apartment.

When the four got out, camera lights flashed like lightning and they ducked their heads to escape them. Three security officers had stayed behind to keep off the paparazzi and Jim was very grateful to his crew. All four of them got inside and the cab driver, who they were all familiar with since having taken up residence in the Commander's Court drove them home wordlessly.

Jim broke the silence "I wonder what's gonna show up tomorrow on the news."

"Enterprise crew partying on a Memorial Day?" McCoy always the pessimist suggested.

"Crew of Enterprise offends spirit of Memorial Day?" Uhura the realist suggested.

"Jim Kirk heads home for a foursome?" Scotty suggested blearily out of the blue. They all turned to look at him and blinked. The next moment they all broke into laughter. That would be hilarious to read on the news.

* * *

 **A/N: Just a one-shot I've had in my drive like forever. Forgive the writing. It was written about a year ago. Please review :)**


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